There's little that people don't know about Lorelai and Rory from the Gilmore Girls. The show has been around for a while now, and one could say it has just as loyal a fan base as it ever did. But with shows we hold close to our hearts, there also comes a degree of willfully turning a blind eye to some of the less noticeable aspects of the show that hide in plain sight.
It's fun to go back and realize things about our beloved characters that we hadn't necessarily thought about before--here are 10 facts about Lorelai and Rory that likely slipped your notice!
They Never Finish Their Food
Lorelai and Rory are known for their love of food. For a single movie-night in, they can be seen ordering pizza, Chinese food, an assortment of chips and snacks, and dessert to boot. On her first date with Dean, Rory nonchalantly states how she eats a lot--reaching for another slice of pizza. But in most of these scenes, although we are lead to assume that the girls have large appetites, there is always a large amount of food left on the table. Much of the time they will brag about how hungry they are, just to leave an entire burger un-eaten on Luke's counter. What's up with that?
Lorelai Never Researches
Lorelai's witty banter is renowned everywhere--from the fictional world of Star's Hollow to the kitchen tables of fans at home. The show is known for its extremely speedy dialogue as well, so not only does Lorelai consistently provide comic relief, but she does it at lightning speed. Her particular brand of comedy includes countless references to pop culture, so many—so fast—that it's hard to keep track.
Yet, we never actually get any insight into how Lorelai obtains this information. She is constantly working, and if not she is socializing with Rory or involved in some drama or other. If she even accesses the internet in her house, we never see her do it. Somehow, Lorelai just knows....everything.
They Never Exercise
As mentioned above, Lorelai and Rory's characters are constantly made out to be eating, and if not, they are often simply talking about when they will next be eating or how much they love food in general. However, we never see them exercise. Now, these girls are both very trim and arguably fit. In the occasional scene, it's suggested that Rory is not into sports at all, and both girls express distaste for healthy food--pretty much anything that isn't a donut, a burger, pizza or Chinese takeout. Yet, they never ever exercise and remain magically lean.
Lorelai Goes Back On Her Harvard Promise
Early in season 1 when Rory becomes overwhelmed with beginning classes at her new High School, Chilton, Lorelai worries that she has pressured Rory into a life focused on private school and the goal of attending Harvard. Upon realizing this, Lorelai takes Rory aside and assures her that if she ever feels like shes pursuing Harvard for her mother's sake, she should stop. She tells Rory that no matter what, she can always change her mind. Fast forward to when Rory is attending Yale (different school, same situation) and she decides she wants to leave. Lorelai is adamantly against it and insists that if Rory leaves school, she can no longer live with Lorelai. This is a complete turnaround on her previous promise.
They Are Flaky
Both girls are more often than not at the mercy of their emotions. One minute they are upset that someone isn't doing what they want them to, obsessing over their every move, the next they are raging about the same person giving them too much attention.
The girls vary between an anguished need for attention and a panicked fear of intimacy, and they pretty much never evolve past this.
Lorelai Meets Kirk as 'Mick' First
Kirk is the town clown--he appears all over the place, popping in unexpectedly for some absurd comic moments. But funnily enough, Kirk was not initially intended to be a regular character. He actually originated as the character 'Mick' in season one, in which he serves as the internet-installer that Lorelai's mother ordered for Lorelai and Rory's house. Lorelai runs into him, they have a moment of what will become Kirk's classic dead-pan humor, and Kirk must have hit it off so well with audiences that the creators decided to write him in regularly.
They Take A Lot Of Favors
Lorelai and Rory both pride themselves on their independence. Lorelai is regularly insisting upon her independent nature, tying it as far back as her actual birth. She claims that it's her free soul which caused her to be unable to oblige how her parents wished her to be and is the reason that she ran away from home and raised Rory separately from her parents. However much Lorelai insists that she is self-sufficient, she is continuously accepting favors from people.
Whether it be her parents, Luke, Sookie, or pretty much anyone else around, Lorelai ends up leaning on them. Yet, she refuses to consider herself dependant on others. Rory has seemingly followed in her footsteps, being a more neurotically self-dependant type—needing to always prove herself to be capable—yet ironically, she would get nothing done without the constant help of her mother and grand-parents.
They Never Go To Places They Reference
Where is 'Al's Pancake House'? What about the pizza place they always order from? Chinese food? The Gilmore girls live in a tiny town, so tiny we regularly see them walk out their door and a second later it's implied that they have walked into the center of town. But this is about as far as we get. While Rory and Lorelai semi-frequently refer to a few other establishments in their home-town, we rarely if ever see them venture past Stars Hollow's main street.
They Are Bad With Money
The girls are made out to be financially insecure. Lorelai can't afford Rory's school and makes it almost a point of pride to associate herself with the underprivileged. Yet, one of the main things the girls talk about and take part in is—you guessed it—eating out. Eating out is one of the first things people trying to save money will cut from their habits.
The Gilmore girls don't only do this a lot, but they do it pretty much exclusively. They also remark on their inability to cook, or even know how to use the oven. If they really needed to cut costs, they would be seen making more of an effort. They also love fashion and have loads of clothes yet—once again—we never hear of any financial repercussions in relation to this. There is one episode where Rory becomes worried about her mother's finances because Lorelai has canceled her regular magazine subscriptions. This is framed as semi-tragic...hmm.
They Measure Their Worth Against Men
Rory and Lorelai are great examples of self-sufficient modern-day women in many ways. Unfortunately, their relation to men throughout the series does verge on cringe-ey sometimes. Most of Lorelai's anecdotes are meant to show how impressive she is are sourced from the fact that she one-upped a guy in some way, thus implying that her value was dependant upon her conquering of a man, or of gaining his approval. She passes this sentiment onto Rory, who, when Jess and Dean are seen having a fight over her, is given a sort of congratulatory, right-of-passage treatment from Lorelai. When it's broken down to the morals of an episode, Lorelai will always side with choosing one's own worth over anything a man has to say about it. But this message does not always ring clear right away.